McDonald's Reopens in Downtown BiloxiHooters to Build Back on Biloxi Beach

by Keith Burton 5/5/08

Ever since hurricane Katrina, restaurants along the beach highway have
been few. The busy road was filled with all types of places to eat before
the hurricane and now some are coming back with more on the way.

The latest to rebuild is McDonald's in Biloxi's downtown area. The new
restaurant near the Hard Rock and Beau Rivage casinos opened last week and
as you would expect, it is a bit higher off the ground.

The new
Biloxi McDonald's is the first in that city to be rebuilt. The company's
other store near Edgewater Mall is also expected to return eventually.
McDonald's has rebuilt many of its restaurants that were destroyed by
Katrina. Their restaurants in Waveland, Pass Christian and Long Beach
reopened last year.

The new restaurant in Biloxi has an entirely different look. The former
McDonald's was built in a modified bank building. The new structure is
conservatively modern and seems to fit well architecturally in its
location immediately east of the Biloxi Town Green.

More restaurants are coming to the Beach area in Biloxi. Hooters is
rebuilding near the former location on the Biloxi Strip. The long-closed
White Pillars Restaurant will reopen. That restaurant has been closed
since the early 1990's. Its historic columned building survived Katrina's
storm surge.

Waffle House has been busy throughout the Coast rebuilding their
beachfront restaurants. The latest is their store on the Biloxi strip in
the same location as their previous beachfront location near where the
former Ruby Tuesday's was located. Several restaurants are nearing
completion at Edgewater Village Shopping Center, they include an upscale
Italian restaurant and a buffet.

Just as reminder, the first restaurant to reopen on U.S. 90 after
hurricane Katrina was Mary Mahoney's in Biloxi.